2015 Ironman World Championship Photo Essay

Time Stamp 06:55: An empty Ironman finish line where the day will end for 94% of those that started the race.

Time Stamp 07:00: The Ironman start with the pier where over a million dollars worth of bikes are parked overnight. This shows the male age groups in the water, less than a minute before the gun goes off.

Time Stamp 07:23: The swim to bike transition area with the top two swimmers (Jan "Frodo" Frodeno of Germany to the left and Andy Potts of Colorado to the right) as they are about to get on their bikes.

Time Stamp 08:16: Last year’s second place finisher and this year’s champion Daniela Ryf of Switzerland having just passed the airport.

Time Stamp 08:18: About two minutes behind Daniela is former attorney (aka solicitor) Rachel Joyce of Great Britain. She would end up in second place, tying for her best finish in Kona, which was back in 2013.

Time Stamp 10:15: Even the best laid plans sometimes don’t pan out. Kent Wieslander of Denmark has a mechanical close to Waikoloa.

Time Stamp 10:52: On the way back from the Hawi turnaround and still on the flats, about four miles from the Scenic Point, Jan Frodeno shows perfect form. He is still trailing Timothy O'Donnell whom he didn't catch until around the 90-mile mark.

Time Stamp 11:26: Daniela Ryf has a three-minute lead over Great Britain’s Jodie Swallow who was first out of the water but DNF.

Time Stamp 11:49: Queen Kaahumanu Highway, also known as Queen K.

Time Stamp 13:57: Jan Frodeno is about to exit The Natural Energy Labs, almost exactly 10 km from the finish line.

Time Stamp 13:58: Ten steps later, the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal Winner does everything in his power to stay cool.

Time Stamp 14:19: The dance between an athlete and an attentive aid station volunteer can be quite elegant.

Time Stamp 14:45: Jan Frodeno crosses the finish line in first place flanked by CEO Andrew Messick to his right and six-time winner in Kona Mark Allen to his left. His splits were 50:50, 4:27:27 and 2:52:21 for a total time of 8:14:40.

Time Stamp 14:48: Three minutes later, fellow German Andreas Raelert crosses the line in second place.

Time Stamp 14:53: Jan Frodeno, Andreas Raelert and Timothy O’Donnell of the United States are top three on the podium.

Time Stamp 15:33: Daniela Ryf grabs the victory flanked by the six-time Kona winner Dave Scott to her right and the eight-time Kona winner Paula Newby-Fraser to her left. Her splits were 56:14, 4:50:46 and 3:06:37 for a total time of 8:57:57.

Time Stamp 16:04: Seventyone-year-old Cherie Gruenfeld of California leaving the transition area. She would battle Natalie Grabow of New Jersey all day, and was at one point 4:30 behind. With just over a mile to go on the run, she finally passes Natalie and ends up winning by over three minutes. This would be her 13th age group victory in Kona and her last. She decided to retire from the race.

Time Stamp 22:31: Actor Sean Astin, internationally famous as Frodo’s right-hand man Samwise Gamgee from The Shire, Middle Earth in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, crosses the finish line after a long day. So, we had both Frodo and Sam in the same race.